Belvedere Tower in Central Park, New York, NY
Posted by: KoosKoos
N 40° 46.760 W 073° 58.138
18T E 587000 N 4514772
Whenever you hear a meteorologist announce "The weather in Central Park...", the readings were taken at Belvedere Tower.
Waymark Code: WM5N7B
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 01/24/2009
Views: 78
From the park web site:
In 1867, Central Park designer and architect Calvert Vaux (1824-1895) created an observation tower atop Vista Rock to overlook the old reservoir that is now the Great Lawn. The Gothic-style Castle was designed as a landmark for the pedestrian park visitor. The castle’s United States flag could be seen from the Mall, drawing the walkers down to Bethesda Terrace, over Bow Bridge, and through the Ramble to the castle itself.
Belvedere Castle was once an open-air structure, with no doors or windows. This changed in 1919 when the United States Weather Bureau moved the Central Park Observatory to the castle. Until that time, weather measurements were taken from the Arsenal at Fifth Avenue and 64th Street where Dr. Daniel Draper founded a meteorological observatory in 1869. The Weather Bureau took over the operation in 1911, and moved it here eight years later, enclosing the castle and altering the turret’s shape to accommodate their scientific instruments.
In the early 1960s, the Weather Bureau replaced the lab with automated instruments and closed the castle offices. The empty building was left to deteriorate until 1983, when the Central Park Conservancy replaced the original turret, rebuilt the pavilions, and converted the castle into a visitor’s center. The Henry Luce Nature Observatory in the castle, created in 1996, provides interactive nature exhibits inside the castle as well as bird-watching kits, which can be used throughout the park.
Visit Instructions:
You must post Waymark coordinates as well as a picture
of you with a GPSr or Geocaching/Waymarking
attire/equipment and the subject weather station in
the background. The main photo should be of just the
weather station itself.